Olympic Torch Relay held in Geneva, Lausanne

The Athens 2004 Olympic Torch Relay is being held in Geneva and Lausanne on Thursday with Switzerland being the 19th international destination for the Torch Relay's global tour which began on June 1 and would end in Athens on August 13 at the opening of the Olympics.

Sights along route in Geneva, which is the seat of the United Nations' European headquarters and the International Committee of the Red Cross, are Water Fountain, Old Town and Palais des Nations.

Sights along route in Lausanne, home of the International Olympic Committee (IOC)'s headquarters since 1915, are Olympic Museum, IOC Headquarters, Vineyards, Lausanne Cathedral, Villa Mon-Repos, and Place de la Navigation.

A total of 139 torchbearers will carry the Olympic flame for approximately 400 meters each along the Geneva and Lausanne route, including IOC President Jacques Rogge and Denis Oswald, chairman of the Coordination Commission for the 2004 Olympic Games.

Also included among the high-profile torchbearers are Bertrand Piccard, the first man to have completed a non-stop trip around the Earth in a hot air balloon; Marc Rosset, Olympic gold medallist in Barcelona; Dano Halsall, Olympic swimmer who competed in the Summer Games in Los Angeles, Seoul and Barcelona; Jacqueline Walcher-Schneider, Olympic swimmer who competed in the 2000 Games in Sydney; and Yang Xilan, Olympic gold medallist with the Chinese women's volleyball team in the 1984 Summer Games in Los Angeles.

When the torchbearer passed through the Palais des Nations at around 11:30 am local time, the director-general of the UN Office at Geneva, Sergei Ordzhonikidze, and the UN Secretary-General's Special Adviser on Sport for Development and Peace, Adolf Ogi, welcomed him in a ceremony.

"Above all, we strive together to achieve peace. That is why the UN General Assembly calls for all hostilities to cease during the Olympic Games in respect of the Olympic Truce. It expresses the human family's universal wish to unite in peaceful and friendly contest," said Ordzhonikidze.

"The Olympic Truce is not just a symbolic gesture; it is a fresh opportunity to engage in dialogue for a lasting peace. Let us therefore seize this moment to promote peace by calling on all warring parties to observe the Olympic Truce," he added.

Source: Xinhua